Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

dark forest hypothesis

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.79 in modern English

Syllables
dark- -forest hy-poth-e-sis
IPA
39
Scrabble Score
20
Letters
6
Syllables
13
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A proposed explanation for the Fermi paradox that suggests extraterrestrial civilizations are abundant but remain silent and hidden, positing that any intelligent civilization views others as potential threats and thus actively avoids revealing itself.

Uncountable

Etymology

From dark + forest + hypothesis. From the title of the novel The Dark Forest (2008) (黑暗森林), by Liu Cixin (刘慈欣), from Chinese 黑暗森林, from 黑暗+森林. Coined by Chinese author Cixin Liu originally in Chinese, then translated into English.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: 黑暗森林

Usage

Frequently Paired Words

berserker hypothesis Fermi paradox Great Filter grey goo

Questions

What does dark forest hypothesis mean?
A proposed explanation for the Fermi paradox that suggests extraterrestrial civilizations are abundant but remain silent and hidden, positing that any intelligent civilization views others as potential threats and thus actively avoids revealing itself.
Where does dark forest hypothesis come from?
It is traced to Chinese.

How to pronounce dark forest hypothesis

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